Gangaroo

Gangaroo is an Australian literary publishing imprint created by Austrian publisher Gerald Ganglbauer after he moved to Australia in 1989. Its name combines Ganglbauer’s surname with “kangaroo,” signalling the imprint’s focus on Australian writing and its effort to make that writing visible outside Australia. The imprint operated within the wider Gangan publishing venture, described in reference material as the Sydney-based small press Gangan Books Austr(al)ia and as an Australian imprint of the Austrian publisher Gangan Verlag. At its origin, Gangaroo responded to a perceived gap in the German-speaking literary market. Australian literature was relatively unfamiliar to many readers in Austria and Germany, and Ganglbauer sought to present contemporary Australian writing as a substantial cultural field rather than as an exotic backdrop associated with popular stereotypes. The imprint’s principal editorial project was The OZlit Collection, a three-volume series devoted to Australian short stories, experimental literature, and poetry. The first volume, Air Mail from Down Under, appeared in 1990 as a German-language anthology of contemporary Australian short fiction. It brought together established and emerging writers including Glenda Adams, Inez Baranay, David Brooks, Peter Carey, Helen Garner, Kate Grenville, David Malouf, Patrick White, Janette Turner Hospital, Michael Wilding, and others. The project was edited by Rudi Krausmann and Michael Wilding, with translations by a group that included Ganglbauer and other literary translators. Its launch in Vienna attracted positive critical attention, particularly for challenging the idea that Australia’s cultural output could be reduced to familiar tourist and popular-culture images. The second planned volume, Malevolent Fiction, focused on experimental Australian literature. It was not initially issued as a conventional printed book. Material associated with the volume appeared in parts online, including through the literary magazine Gangway, and the collection was later identified with a 2017 publication bearing the subtitle Australia’s Experimental Literature. The third volume, Made in Australia, was a bilingual English-German poetry anthology published in 1994. Edited by Gisela Triesch and Rudi Krausmann, it presented work by approximately eighty contemporary Australian poets, including around 140 selected poems, and framed Australian poetry as an exportable literary culture through its bilingual presentation. Although the collection received favourable reviews in both Australia and Germany, sales were insufficient to make the printed publishing programme financially sustainable. Support from the Australia Council did not enable the project to reach break-even. Following the commercial difficulties of The OZlit Collection, new titles were increasingly published online from 1996, and the publishing operation adopted the name Gangan Publishing. Gangaroo is therefore best understood as a historically important literary imprint and publishing project rather than as a mass-market consumer brand. Its significance lies in translation, literary exchange, and the early use of online publication to continue presenting Australian experimental writing after the printed collection ended.

Gerald Ganglbauer, an Austrian publisher, arrived in Australia in 1989 and began gathering Australian short stories, experimental prose, and poetry. He believed that Australian literature was underrepresented in German-speaking countries and established Gangaroo as a vehicle for translation and international literary exchange. The name was formed from Ganglbauer’s surname and “kangaroo,” linking the publisher’s identity with the imprint’s Australian subject matter. Gangaroo was connected with the Sydney-based small press Gangan Books Austr(al)ia and the Austrian publishing house Gangan Verlag. Its central editorial undertaking was The OZlit Collection, developed with writers and editors including Bernard Cohen, Rudi Krausmann, and Michael Wilding. The series was designed to show the range of modern Australian writing rather than present a narrow or touristic image of the country. The first volume, Air Mail from Down Under, was published in 1990. Edited by Rudi Krausmann and Michael Wilding, it collected contemporary Australian short stories in German translation. The contributors included major Australian writers such as Peter Carey, Helen Garner, Kate Grenville, David Malouf, Patrick White, Janette Turner Hospital, and Michael Wilding, alongside numerous other authors. The volume’s Vienna launch received attention from Austrian reviewers, who praised the project for demonstrating that Australian culture extended beyond familiar popular stereotypes. The second volume, Malevolent Fiction, was devoted to experimental Australian literature. Its material was not initially released as a complete printed volume; parts appeared online and in connection with the literary magazine Gangway. Reference material also identifies a later 2017 edition, edited by Bernard Cohen, Gerald Ganglbauer, and Gregory Harvey, which helped close the conceptual gap between the first and third volumes. The third volume, Made in Australia, appeared in 1994. Edited by Gisela Triesch and Rudi Krausmann, it was a bilingual English-German anthology of contemporary Australian poetry. It included work by approximately eighty poets and around 140 poems, with contributors ranging across several generations and including Aboriginal Australian voices. The bilingual format made the collection both an anthology and a translation project, presenting Australian poetry directly alongside its German-language versions. Despite favourable reviews in Australia and Germany, the printed collection sold slowly. A grant from the Australia Council was not enough to make the publishing programme financially viable, and the commercial failure of the printed OZlit project brought its print run to an end. From 1996, new titles were published online, and the operation changed its name to Gangan Publishing. Gangaroo consequently represents a focused period in the history of a small transnational literary press: it used translation, anthology publishing, and eventually digital distribution to promote Australian literature to international readers.

• 2017

  Malevolent Fiction receives a later publication

  [1]Gangarooen.wikipedia.org

  A later edition associated with Malevolent Fiction documented experimental Australian literature that had previously circulated partly online.

• 1996

  The publishing programme moves online

  [1]Gangarooen.wikipedia.org

  Following weak print sales, new titles began appearing online and the operation adopted the name Gangan Publishing.

• 1994

  Made in Australia is published

  [1]Gangarooen.wikipedia.org

  The third OZlit volume presented Australian poetry in a bilingual English-German edition.

• 1990

  Air Mail from Down Under is published

  [1]Gangarooen.wikipedia.org

  The first OZlit volume presented translated contemporary Australian short fiction in German.

• 1989

  Gerald Ganglbauer establishes the Gangaroo project

  [1]Gangarooen.wikipedia.org

  After moving from Austria to Australia, Gerald Ganglbauer began developing an imprint dedicated to presenting Australian writing to German-speaking audiences.

A cross-cultural literary imprint introducing contemporary Australian writing, especially short fiction, experimental prose, and poetry, to German-speaking audiences through translation and bilingual publishing.

• Translated short-fiction anthology · 1990

  Air Mail from Down Under

  The first volume of The OZlit Collection, published in 1990, gathered contemporary Australian short stories in German translation. Its contributors included Peter Carey, Helen Garner, Kate Grenville, David Malouf, Patrick White, Janette Turner Hospital, and other Australian writers. The anthology was designed to broaden German-speaking readers’ understanding of Australian literature and to challenge the perception that Australia’s cultural identity was represented mainly by popular stereotypes.

• Experimental-literature anthology · 1992

  Malevolent Fiction

  The second OZlit project focused on experimental Australian prose and related literary practices. It was initially distributed in parts online rather than as a conventional complete print volume, including material connected with Gangway. A later edition associated with the project documented contributors such as Jas H. Duke, Paul Hewson, Linda Marie Walker, Ruark Lewis, Chris Mann, and Ania Walwicz.

• Bilingual poetry anthology · 1994

  Made in Australia

  The third OZlit volume, published in 1994, presented selected work by approximately eighty contemporary Australian poets in English and German. The anthology included around 140 poems and featured writers from different generations and backgrounds, including Aboriginal Australian poetry. Its bilingual design made translation central to the presentation of Australian poetry as an international literary culture.

• 1996

  Shift from print publishing to online distributionStrategy

  Background

  The OZlit Collection received positive reviews but sold slowly, and available support did not allow the printed programme to reach financial break-even.

  Action taken

  New titles began to be published online, and the operation changed its name to Gangan Publishing.

  Aftermath

  The decision ended the main printed OZlit programme while allowing the wider publishing project to continue in digital form.

  Source

1. 1Gangarooen.wikipedia.org